Top 25 college basketball roundup

Wichita State players Chadrack Lufile, left, and Nick Wiggins celebrate after Saturday's 68-45 win over Missouri State at Wichita, Kansas. No. 2 Wichita State finished the regular season 31-0.

Published March 02. 2014 12:01AM | Updated March 02. 2014 2:20AM

Men

No. 2 Wichita State 68, Missouri State 45

Wichita State will carry its pursuit of perfection into the Missouri Valley tournament.

Cleanthony Early scored 19 points, Ron Baker added 13 and the Shockers rolled to a victory over Missouri State on Saturday, easily putting away a team that had given them fits this season.

Relying on the same stubborn defense that carried it on last year's improbable run to the Final Four, Wichita State (31-0, 18-0) became the first team since Saint Joseph's in 2004 to enter its conference tournament unbeaten. The Shockers will have a first-round bye in St. Louis next week.

Missouri State (19-11, 9-9) had them in trouble when they met Jan. 11 in Springfield, Mo., but the Bears blew a 19-point second-half lead and ultimately lost 72-69 in overtime.

They never came close to making it a game Saturday, trailing by double-digits in the opening minutes.

Casey Prather and Michael Frazier II added 14 points apiece for the Gators, who also won their 31st straight at home.

This one was never in doubt.

Florida (27-2, 16-0 Southeastern Conference) scored the first eight points, opened up a double-digit lead with consecutive 3-pointers from DeVon Walker and Finney-Smith and put the game away early in the second half with a flurry of points in the paint.

Johnny O'Bryant III led the Tigers (17-11, 8-8) with 18 points. Jordan Mickey added 14 points and 10 rebounds for LSU, which lost its seventh straight on the road.

No. 12 Virginia 76, No. 4 Syracuse 56

Malcolm Brogdon scored eight of his 19 points during a decisive second-half run and No. 12 Virginia clinched the top seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Akil Mitchell added 12 points and nine rebounds and Mike Tobey and Justin Anderson scored 11 each for the Cavaliers (25-5, 16-1 ACC), who won their only outright ACC regular season title 33 years ago — 1980-81 — when Ralph Sampson was a sophomore. The victory was their 13th in a row and the final buzzer brought hundreds streaming onto the court.

Tyler Ennis and C.J. Fair scored 13 each for the Orange (26-3, 13-3), who lost for the third time in four games. Syracuse played much of the game without ailing Jerami Grant because of a sore back.

Oklahoma State 72, No. 5 Kansas 65

Marcus Smart scored 20 of his 21 points in the second half to help Oklahoma State defeat Kansas and give a major boost to the Cowboys' once-fading NCAA tournament hopes.

Oklahoma State (19-10, 7-9 Big 12) overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half. The Cowboys improved to 3-0 since Smart returned from a three-game suspension for shoving a Texas Tech fan.

Andrew Wiggins scored 15 for Kansas (22-7, 13-3), which already had clinched the Big 12 title outright before tipoff because Texas and Iowa State lost earlier.

The student section was filled nearly an hour before the opening tip. The crowd included Oklahoma City Thunder players Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and their coach, Scott Brooks.

Kamari Murphy's layup gave Oklahoma State a 66-64 lead with 1:37 remaining.

No. 21 Memphis 72, No. 7 Louisville 66

Chris Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to put Memphis ahead to stay, and the Tigers swept the season series from the Cardinals.

No. 21 Memphis (22-7, 11-5 American Athletic Conference) trailed 65-57 with 4:45 left when Michael Dixon Jr. scored six straight, jumpstarting the Tigers who scored 15 of the final 16 points.

No. 7 Louisville (24-5, 13-3) went cold after taking its biggest lead. The Cardinals didn't score again until Chris Jones hit a free throw with 40.3 seconds to go.

Briante Weber added 13 points and four steals for the Rams (22-7, 10-4 Atlantic 10), who handed Saint Louis its second consecutive defeat following a school-record, 19-game winning streak. The Billikens were upset at home Thursday night by Duquesne, a 14-point underdog.

With another chance to clinch at least a tie for the Atlantic 10 regular-season championship, Saint Louis came up empty again. The Billikens lead St. Joseph's by one game with two to play.

Jordair Jett led Saint Louis (25-4, 12-2) with 18 points. Leading scorer Dwayne Evans had just four on 2-of-11 shooting after scoring 21 when the Billikens beat VCU 64-62 on Feb. 15 in St. Louis.

The Aztecs (24-3, 14-2 Mountain West) shot 60 percent from the field, including 9 of 15 on 3-pointers, to cool off a Fresno State team that had won seven of eight. Quinn was 4 of 5 from long range to help San Diego State snap a two-game skid on the road.

It was the largest margin of defeat during conference play for Fresno State (15-15, 8-9).

San Diego State led by five at halftime and pulled away in the second half, particularly when Bulldogs top scorer Tyler Johnson went to the bench because of foul problems.

Fresno State honored Hall of Fame coach Jerry Tarkanian at halftime.

Kansas State 80, No. 15 Iowa State 73

Will Spradling hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:38 left and Kansas State overcame a huge game by Iowa State star Melvin Ejim.

Shane Southwell had 13 points for the Wildcats (20-9, 10-6 Big 12), who moved into a four-way tie for second place in the conference. Looking for the No. 2 seed in the league tournament, they play at Oklahoma State on Monday and then host Baylor on Saturday to end the regular season.

Kansas State has won 15 straight at Bramlage Coliseum, its longest home winning streak since the 1981-82 season.

Nik Stauskas scored 21 points and Glenn Robinson III provided an emotional lift with his dunks as Michigan locked up at least a share of the Big Ten title with a victory over Minnesota.

The Wolverines (21-7, 13-3) didn't arrive at the Crisler Center expecting to have a chance to earn their third banner in three years, but Illinois changed that by upsetting Michigan State in East Lansing.

Michigan can clinch its first outright conference crown since 1986 with a win Tuesday at Illinois or next Saturday at home against Indiana.

Michigan won a share of the Big Ten crown in 2012 and went to the national championship game last season. The last time the Wolverines hung banners in three straight seasons was 1964-66, when a group led by Cazzie Russell won three consecutive Big Ten titles and went to two Final Fours.

South Carolina 72, No. 17 Kentucky 67

Brenton Williams scored 24 points for South Carolina, which held on after Kentucky coach John Calipari was ejected midway through the second half.

South Carolina (11-18, 4-12 Southeastern Conference) hit six of its first eight shots in the second half to go up 48-32 with 14:13 left. Kentucky made a furious charge after Calipari was tossed, but came up short.

The Wildcats (21-8, 11-5) went 15:38 with only one field goal — on a goaltending call. Calipari was ejected with his team down 12 after getting a second technical with 10:21 left. He walked out of the arena with his suit coat buttoned but his shirttail out.

Calipari's team responded with a 28-17 run and, after a three-point play by Julius Randle, Kentucky trailed 68-67 with 22 seconds left. But freshman Sindarius Thornwell hit two free throws for South Carolina, and Alex Poythress' attempt at a tying 3-pointer fell short.

It was South Carolina's first win over a Top 25 team in more than three years and it pulled the Gamecocks out of last place in the SEC. Students ignored repeated warnings and stormed the court, likely incurring a hefty fine from the league.

The Fighting Illini (17-12, 6-10 Big Ten) have three straight victories for the first time since winning four in a row from Dec. 21 to Jan. 4. That successful stretch included a win over then-No. 23 Missouri.

The Spartans (22-7, 11-5) have dropped two straight and six of their last 10 games. They were full strength for the first time in nearly two months, but simply weren't good enough to beat a streaking team that seemed more inspired.

Branden Dawson returned from a broken hand and played for the first time since Jan. 21, when he helped Michigan State beat Indiana to improve to 18-1 overall and 7-0 in conference.

Michigan State's Gary Harris had 19 points.

No. 19 North Carolina 60, Virginia Tech 56

James Michael McAdoo scored 15 points to lead No. 19 North Carolina to its 11th straight victory.

McAdoo hit 6 of 9 from the floor for the Tar Heels (22-7, 12-4), who started Atlantic Coast Conference play 1-4 and have not lost since. The Tar Heels haven't won this many games in a row since opening the 2008-09 season with 13 straight victories.

McAdoo scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half, including 10 after the Hokies had cut the Tar Heel lead to 42-40 on a basket by Jarell Eddie with 8:54 left in the game. North Carolina answered with seven straight points, with McAdoo scoring the last two points on a basket with 6:57 left to make it 49-40.

Markus Kennedy scored 18 points, Nic Moore had 11 of his 13 in the second half and SMU took another step toward its first NCAA tournament berth in 21 years.

The Mustangs (23-6, 12-4 American Athletic) improved to 15-0 at home, with the last nine coming at newly renovated Moody Coliseum, going into their final home game Wednesday night against seventh-ranked Louisville. The Cardinals lost to No. 21 Memphis 72-66 on Saturday.

Moore, who also had game highs with six assists and four steals, had consecutive 3-pointers for a 45-27 lead with 13:53 remaining, pumping his arms wildly as he stomped up the court with a loud roar from the sixth sellout crowd since Moody reopened in January.

Isaiah Sykes had 18 points to lead UCF (11-16, 3-13).

Oklahoma 77, No. 24 Texas 65

Isaiah Cousins scored a career-high 24 points and Oklahoma gained ground in the race for second place in the Big 12.

Buddy Hield hit four 3-pointers and scored 17 points for Oklahoma (21-8, 10-6), which entered the game in a four-way battle with Texas (21-8, 10-6), Kansas State and Iowa State behind Kansas.

After Saturday, all four teams will have two games remaining.

Oklahoma committed a season-low seven turnovers while completing a regular-season sweep of the Longhorns. The Sooners have won three of the last four games in the series after Texas had won 12 of the previous 15.

Cameron Ridley had his eighth double-double of the season with 19 points and 14 rebounds for Texas, which has lost three of its last four games after winning nine of its previous 10, all in league play.

Women

No. 3 Louisville 75, Cincinnati 51

Tia Gibbs scored 17 points and Louisville pulled away from Cincinnati in the second half.

The second-place Cardinals (28-2, 16-1) went into Saturday's game trailing top-ranked and conference-leading Connecticut by one game.

The two are scheduled to meet in the regular-season finale on Monday in Louisville.

Before a crowd of 1,088 on Cincinnati's Senior Day, Bearcats' senior Jeanise Randolph had 22 points and 11 rebounds — her ninth double-double of the season and 14th of her career.

Alyesha Lovett added 15 points for Cincinnati (12-16, 5-12).

No. 5 Stanford 84, Washington State 64

Chiney Ogwumike scored a career-best 37 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in her final regular-season game to lead Stanford over Washington State.

Ogwumike surpassed her previous high of 36 points against Cal Poly this season and Washington State on Jan. 11 in a 77-69 victory.

Ogwumike made 14 of 23 shots, scoring inside with 2:17 left to surpass her career high before coming out of the game to a huge ovation. Amber Orrange added 20 points and eight rebounds for Stanford (28-2, 17-1 Pac-12), which improved to 57-0 against Washington State (15-15, 9-9).

No. 8 Penn State 77, Michigan 62

Ariel Edwards scored 21 points and Penn State beat Michigan to clinch a share of the Big Ten title for the third straight season.

Penn State can win the title outright Sunday if Nebraska loses to Purdue, and Michigan State falls to Indiana.

The four-woman senior class has won 99 games for Penn State thus far in their careers, and this marks the fourth straight season the Lady Lions have won more than 20 games. Michigan (17-12, 8-8) got 21 points from Shannon Smith and 14 from Madison Ristovski. Siera Thompson added 10 points.

No. 15 Oklahoma State 67, Kansas State 62

Senior Tiffany Bias scored 17 points in her final home game and Brittney Martin added 13 rebounds as Oklahoma State held on in the last 3 minutes to defeat Kansas State.

Oklahoma State (22-6, 11-6 Big 12) led by 13 at the half but Kansas State went on a 7-0 run, sparked by Kindred Wesemann's 3-pointer, to take the lead by four points with 2:59 left to play.

The Cowgirls quickly responded with a 7-0 run of their own after forcing three Wildcat turnovers to go ahead for good with 2:30 remaining. Bias made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 3 minutes to keep the Cowgirls ahead. Martin finished with 13 points and Liz Donohoe chipped in 12.

Leticia Romero and Ashlynn Knoll scored 19 points apiece to lead the Wildcats (11-17, 5-12), and Wesemann added four 3-pointers.

Washington 70, No. 18 California 65

Kelsey Plum had 22 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Jazmine Davis added 20 points to lead Washington over California.

Washington (17-12, 10-8 Pac 12) used a 9-0 run midway through the first half, including a 3-pointer by Plum, to take a 36-32 lead at the break.

The Huskies led by as many as 10 in the second half, but Cal (21-8, 13-5) cut its deficit to three with 33 seconds left on a pair of free throws and a layup by Reshanda Gray, who finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds.

The Bears missed their last two shots and two free throws and Washington escaped with victory.

Talia Walton had 12 points for Washington, which bounced back from consecutive losses to Oregon State and highly-ranked Stanford.

Afure Jemerigbe led California with 24 points, including five 3-pointers, and six assists.

No. 22 Gonzaga 81, Pacific 77

Sunny Greinacher scored a career-high 24 points as Gonzaga held on to beat Pacific to close the regular season.

Lindsay Sherbert added 18 points and Haiden Palmer 17 for the Bulldogs (26-4, 16-2), who wrapped up their 10th-straight West Coast Conference title in their last game and went 16-0 at home.

KiKi Moore kept Pacific (17-11, 12-6), which had a six-game winning streak end, in the game by matching her career-high of 33 points. Hailie Eackles added 20 and Kendall Kenyon 12 with 10 rebounds.

Gonzaga went on a 17-3 tear in the first half to open a 27-10 lead but the Tigers came back to close within 39-34 at the half. Pacific's last lead was 53-51 with 12:28 to go but Palmer scored the next four, followed by a Sherbert layup.

GU had a 50-34 rebound advantage (24-10 offensive) and 28-2 in bench points.

No. 23 Middle Tennessee 68, UAB 58

Ebony Rowe, kept in check most of the game, scored nine-straight points in a late 12-0 run and finished with 22 as Middle Tennessee rallied to defeat Alabama-Birmingham.

Behind Karisma Chapman, the Blazers (15-12, 7-7) led until Rowe took over. Chapman had 15 points and 13 rebounds but her only bucket of the second half came with 14:05 to play. Chelsee Black led UAB with 16 points.

Middle Tennessee, down by 11 with 11:30 to play, was behind 53-49 at the 4:33 mark before the critical surge. Rowe had a three-point play, two free throws and two layups with Cason capping the run with a 3 with 1:35 left.

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